CHAPTER 183: NEW AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE

September 10, 2029

Taguig – TG Tower, 21st Floor – Executive Conference Room

10:05 AM

Timothy pushed open the glass door without knocking. The room wasn’t large. No boardroom oval table. No projection screens. Just a steel frame table, four chairs, and one flat display mounted on the wall. Sunlight came through the floor-to-ceiling window, showing BGC traffic below—normal weekday, controlled, repetitive.

Carlos Mendoza from TG Motors PH was already seated.

"Morning," Carlos said.

"Let’s see it," Timothy replied, taking the chair across from him.

Carlos opened a folder. No visuals of concept cars. No glossy mockups. Just component layouts, LiDAR arrays, routing infrastructure, operating cost breakdown.

"This isn’t a car," Carlos said. "This is a fleet. This is a service."

Timothy nodded.

Carlos pointed to the diagram.

"Level 5 autonomous platform, no steering wheel, no pedal. Not meant to be sold to customers. Meant to exist on the road, not in garages. Purpose-built for hail-riding service."

"Target?" Timothy asked.

"Tesla," Carlos said plainly. "Robotaxi. Their approach: retrofit existing electric car chassis with FSD. But they’re still hybrid-human cars, just modified."

He pulled out another sheet.

"Ours: chassis designed solely for autonomous operation. Square cabin. Modular battery bay. Sliding door both sides. Seats rotate. AI fleet management built from scratch, no human fallback drivers."

Timothy looked at the cost sheet.

"Cost per unit after scaled manufacture?"

Carlos tapped the figure.

"₱2.4 million per vehicle. Hardware manufacturing only. Software division separate."

"Battery?"

"Standard LithiumX B-series pack. We can repurpose manufacturing lines in Batangas. Compatible with existing TG charging infrastructure."

He turned to another page.

"Four-wheel drive, motor at each hub. Primary reduction done digitally, no gear set, minimal wear. Turning radius small enough for tight street navigation in Makati areas. No rear mirrors—full sensor grid."

Timothy glanced through the breakdown. No fluff. Weight distribution realistic. Maintenance schedule outlined. He looked back at Carlos.

"How many vehicles to start?"

"Fifty for Manila pilot," Carlos said. "Marikina, Bonifacio, Makati, Pasig. Controlled districts first. Fleet management anchored at TG Motors HQ. Dispatch based on real-time demand heat map."

"No hired drivers?" Timothy said.

"No drivers," Carlos answered. "Four mechanics, two remote monitors, one data manager."

Timothy leaned back.

"Route flexibility?"

"Peak-hour deployments, mall pickup, medical response, night safety rides, airport transfers. We can adjust patterns weekly."

Carlos took out a tablet, loaded a simulation video. Not glossy. Just a gray-box city layout, vehicle routes mapped in grid lines.

At 100 vehicles, heat zones balanced. Ride times low. No empty units idling too long.

"This is based on current Metro Manila saturation data?" Timothy asked.

"Yes," Carlos said. "We took five years’ worth of Grab trip density, bus lane saturation, private car idle zones. Converted into predictive traffic AI."

He leaned forward, voice steady.

"This isn’t just taxi replacement. This is mobility infrastructure. TG Motors as a service company—not just a manufacturer."

Timothy nodded slowly. He wasn’t smiling. But he was listening closely.

Carlos continued.

"And one more thing," he said, sliding another paper.

"Projected public response. First wave—curiosity. Second wave—skepticism about safety. Third wave—demand. Not for innovation. Not for novelty. But for convenience."

Timothy read it.

Pilots in other countries showed similar pattern. Not tech adoption. Habit adoption. People didn’t care about LiDAR, sensors, deep learning. They cared about arrival time, cost, reliability.

"How fast to prototype?" Timothy asked.

"Nine months, if we clear space in the Batangas line."

"How soon can this physically transport someone in Taguig?"

"Seven months, earliest. Realistically eight to nine."

Timothy listened. He looked out the window briefly.

BGC roads below. Private cars. Taxis idling near bus stops. Motorcycle couriers weaving in and out.

Inefficient.

Carlos opened the final sheet.

"Tim," he said. "We can build the car. We can build the fleet, the software, the routes, the dispatch. But we need one thing from you."

Timothy looked back at him.

"Public backing?"

"No," Carlos said. "Policy leverage."

He paused.

"We need legal recognition that an autonomous vehicle is a vehicle—even without a driver. Otherwise, legally, these will still be considered unregistered equipment."

Timothy nodded once.

He folded the final sheet and set it aside.

"What’s the name?" he asked.

"Name?"

"The platform."

Carlos hesitated for a second.

"TG Glide," he said. "It moves. Smooth. No frills. Just takes people where they need to go."

"And that’s final?"

"No," Carlos said. "Just an internal name. You’ll probably change it."

"Maybe," Timothy said.

He stood. Carlos stood too.

"You’ll have funding," Timothy said. "Route mapping access. Facilities if needed. I’ll handle regulatory clearance."

Carlos nodded, relieved, but not overly.

Then he asked, "When do we start?"

Timothy looked at the simulation screen one more time.

"Now," he said.

Carlos closed his folder but didn’t leave right away. He stayed standing, hands resting on the table. Timothy had already turned toward the window, eyes focused beyond the glass, toward the roads below.

Six-seater SUV turning left at an intersection. A motorcycle weaving between two sedans. A bus stopping in the middle lane, blocking two others. A taxi idling too long.

Carlos followed his gaze.

"Is it really possible?" he asked quietly. "People here—will they trust it?"

Timothy didn’t look away from the window.

"They don’t need to trust it," he said. "They just need to use it."

Carlos nodded slowly.

Timothy turned back.

"You’re not building a dream," he said. "You’re building an alternative. The moment it’s easier than waiting for a taxi or booking a Grab—people will switch."

Carlos thought about that.

"It won’t feel like new tech," Timothy said. "It will feel like the obvious next step."

Carlos exhaled. "That’s the goal."

Timothy stepped toward the table again.

"Start with Batangas," he said. "Secure the manufacturing reconfiguration. Talk to Reina in supply chain. Keep a minimal team. Don’t make a big deal out of it until we’re ready to deploy."

Carlos nodded. "Yes, sir."

"And don’t focus on making it attractive," Timothy added. "Make it reliable. Let function build trust."

Carlos understood. He gathered the papers and closed the tablet.